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By Miller F. S

The famous Golden Mile of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia was, between 1888 and 19ft, one of the richest and most important gold camps in the world. Annual production, which reached a peak of nearly 1,300,000 oz. in 1903, however dropped to below 400,000 oz. after 1920.Depression seized the camp, and many mines closed down. The output from this old field is now steadily mounting under the stimulus. of a higher price for gold. In 1935 300,000 oz. of precious metal were recovered and the future is bright. Total production from the field is 21,400,000 oz., whereas something like £23,600,000 have been paid in dividends.The Golden Mile has been studied by many geologists. Their somewhat diverse findings were published for the most part in the Australian technical press which, unfortunately, is not sufficiently represented in foreign libraries.The following article is based on an eighteen months' study in the district for Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie Ltd., preceded by four years' experience with almost identical rock types in the, Porcupine district of Ontario. The excellent record of observed fact left by previous invesigators, augmented by talks with observant mining men...

Jan 1, 1937

Australia is the world's leading producer and exporter of mineral sands. Despite increased production from some other countries in recent years, Australia maintained its No.1 position in 1988 among world producers of mineral sands concentrates. Production of the titanium minerals -- ruffle, ilmenite and leucoxene, as well as synthetic ruffle -- by the seven companies currently comprising the Australian industry increased in 1988 in response to continuing strong demand for feedstock by the pigment industry. Production of co-product zircon remained at the 1987 level, reflecting declining zircon grades. Exports of mineral sands concentrates increased in 1988; export earnings exceeded $300million. Prices for mineral sands concentrates are now at a historical high and, assuming that the world economy remains strong, real prices should continue to trend upwards in the short term. Exploration in the Eneabba-Cooljarloo region and the Scott River area, both in WA, the Murray Basin, Vic, and the central Queensland coast area, has identified substantial resources of heavy mineral sands. These discoveries have reversed the trend of the early 1980s of falling resources of mineral sands. In 1988, BMR estimated that economic demonstrated resources (EDR) of ilmenite, rutile, zircon and monazite combined was about 72.8 million tonnes. However, a substantial portion of the resources on the east coast are frozen as a result of environmental considerations. The proportion of mineral sands concentrates processed in Australia increased with the commissioning of two new synthetic rutile plants; Australia is now the world's leading producer of synthetic rutile (total capacity 272000 tonnes), most of it for export. Australia's two TiO2 pigment producers have both increased capacity, lifting national capacity by some 70p ercent to over 120000 tonnes/yr. As part of the expansion one producer converted from the sulphate to the chloride process. Other new pigment plants are being proposed for the future.

Jan 1, 1989

By G Boyd

The Nokomai Gold Mining Project commenced production in January 1992. The Project continues a history of mining in theNokomai Valley which extended from 1863 to 1942. L & M Mining Limited have held interests in the valley since 1980. In 1990 the Nokomai Joint Venture was formed with the Hore family, the owners of Nokomai Station, to mine a large alluvial gold resource in the valley. The mine is located adjacent to the Mataura Brown Trout fishery and required extensive environmental studies prior to granting of permits. The mine is budgeted to work for 20 months, processing 460 000 m3 of wash material. During this period, contract miners, Downer Mining Limited, will move in excess of seven million cubic metres of overburden from the deposit.

Jan 1, 1992

By F Pirajno

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. China’s mineral deposits are the result of metallogenic processes associated with the geodynamic evolution of tectonic plates and eventual amalgamation into their modern configuration. The principal tectonic provinces of China comprise the North China Craton, Yangtze Craton, Cathaysia Craton, Tarim block, Altay-Tianshan-Hinggan orogens (part of the Central Asian Orogenic Bel), Central China orogens, Songpan-Ganze orogen and Alpine-Himalayan fold belts, which are part of the huge Tethysides. These tectonic elements are testimony to a complex geological history spanning more than 3000 million years. This contribution will focus on selected areas of the Altay-Tianshan, the fold belts surrounding the North China Craton and Yangtze Craton and the mineral systems along the Ailaoshan-Red River fault zone. Mineral deposits in these provinces include gold, copper, molybdenum, tin, antimony, nickel, platinum group elements, lead and zinc.CITATION:Pirajno, F, 2015. Metallogeny and related tectonic settings in China , in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 17–24 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

New ZealandÆs share of global greenhouse gas emissions, at about one fifth of one per cent, is very small. But the profile of those emissions is unique among OECD countries; more than half come from methane and nitrous oxide associated with livestock agriculture. Consequently, fulfilling its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol is potentially quite onerous for New Zealand.In this paper we use a single region, static general equilibrium model to assess the implications for New Zealand of various climate change policy options. The energy and agriculture sectors are modeled in a detailed manner to enable realistic simulations to be carried out.Choosing an optimal set of policies is made more difficult by the fact that New Zealand relies heavily on emission intensive sectors for much of its export earnings. For example, one emission intensive sector alone, dairy, accounts for over 20 per cent of all merchandise exports. Avoiding carbon leakage is therefore an important consideration in selecting appropriate greenhouse policies.Our analysis shows the degree of sectoral adjustment required is substantial. In addition, the total costs depend on the uncertain level of variables such as the global carbon price and the level of afforestation activities in New Zealand, ie the rate of new forest planting.

Jan 1, 2002

Comparison of Grinding and Liberation Processes for Stalky Biomass Materials as a Prerequisite for Production of Energy Pellets with High Calorific Value Pelletising biomass, especially straw and stalky materials, requires a product specific size reduction and liberation. However, moisture content plays an important role in palletising and also affects the energetic properties of the biomass. The paper illustrates the characteristics of the mentioned type of biomass and specifies the necessities for production of energy pellets. Defined requirements for biomass energy pellets will be shown based on relevant standards. The work focuses on a comparative investigation of the straw fibres after grinding with hammer/impact mill and after the liberation of the straw fibres with twin-screw extruder (two different communition units). A traditional hammer mill as well as an hydrothermal process taking place in a twin-screw extruder were utilised. Results of the grinding and liberation of rye and wheat straw fibres are discussed based on a detailed particle characterisation (particle size and shape distribution). Besides high calorific value the main pellet quality parameters are mechanical stability, abrasion resistance and further combustion technical characteristics. The particle size distribution displayed optimum characteristics for the combustion processes to be carried out in a furnace. The durability of the pellets produced from straw fibres liberated with twin-screw extruder was comparatively better then that prepared with the straw fibres after grinding with impact mill. Particle size distribution, abrasion values and the strength characteristics showed a good correlation with each. The high presence of N and S would result in high NOx and SOx emissions, where as the high concentrations of Cl would corrode the furnace. These chemical properties of the straw would restrict its usage in small scale furnaces.

Sep 13, 2010

The Golden Cross mine commenced production in December 1991. Both open pit and underground mines produce 1000 tonnes of ore per day. Mining techniques are discussed along with results and variations to proposed methods of extracting the ore.

Jan 1, 1992

The lignite resource in the southern part of the South Island is New ZealandÆs largest source of indigenous primary energy. The ten deposits evaluated by the Liquid Fuels Trust Board (LFTB) have a total recoverable reserve of 6.2 billion tones equivalent to 74 000 PJ of energy or 20 times the original energy content of the Maui gas field. Updating the economics of the original LFTB studies indicates that lignite could be mined for between NZ$1.0 and 3.0/GJ. Its conversion to synthesis gas for production of petroleum products, chemical methanol, ammonia/urea fertiliser or electricity would be in the national benefit and likely to be commercially economic at todayÆs product prices.

Jan 1, 2005

By I Thin, L Morizzi, C Seymour, G Mungur

Olympic Dam has been investigating mine design options for the South Mine Area (SMA), which will continue using the existing sublevel open stoping (SLOS) method. The SMA is an undeveloped mining area, located south of the existing underground mining areas currently in production at Olympic Dam. The SMA study reached the stage where geotechnical inputs were required for stope design, infrastructure location and ground support forecasts. A large database of geotechnical data was collected to inform open pit designs for the ODX (Olympic Dam expansion) project (resulting from 659 drill holes). This geotechnical data has since been reprocessed to align with design inputs required for the SLOS mining method. The result has been the construction of a preliminary three-dimensional mining rock mass model (MRMM) that has been incorporated into preliminary stope mine design and infrastructure layout assessments, which have taken into account the predicted prevailing ground conditions.As with any model, it is necessary to improve the confidence in its predictability; therefore the model must be calibrated. The preliminary SMA MRMM was no exception. First pass calibration was possible with results from underground geotechnical window mapping from exposed rock mass conditions in the lateral development and surface geotechnical holes for ventilation shafts.The SMA project continues to advance and has started a program of resource drilling. Selected holes have been identified that target data limited areas. This will ensure that the data gaps are infilled in order to maintain the required data density required to improve the model confidence. In addition, further underground window mapping in the SMA will provide ‘mine scale drill hole’ data that can be used to either update the MRMM or as part of planned future calibration. Stope performance data from stopes will provide further valuable data for calibration purposes.The proposed paper will present the process and findings that have been followed in order to establish a well calibrated geotechnical model that can be used with an acceptable level of confidence in the ongoing refinements of the mine design and planning process for the SMA.CITATION:Thin, I, Morizzi, L, Mungur, G and Seymour, C, 2016. Building and calibration of a geotechnical model for sublevel open stope design at Olympic Dam, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 523–532 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

By Hannan J. C

In New South Wales, development applications for major coal mining proposals are determined by the Minister for Planning and Environment and applications for mining leases and other mineral titles are dealt with by the Minister for Mineral Resources. The environmental conditions placed on the development consent, the coal mining lease and the approvals and licences under the pollution control legislation, amount to a substantial component of any new project's planning and commissioning considerations.An outline is presented of the framework within which various approvals are granted and conditions for environmental management are imposed upon mining projects. The principles and concerns, as perceived by the regulatory authorities, on which the majority of approval conditions are based are also outlined.No attempt has been made to analyse the extent to which these principles or standards are achieved in practice, nor to discuss the degree to which some of the conditions are achievable with the current status of technology and economics in the coal industry.

Jan 1, 1987

By Parker JB

The Channar Iron Ore Mining Project (the Project) is a joint venture involving the Hamersley Holdings group (Hamersley) and the China Metallurgical Import and Export Corporation (CMIEC). The Project represents the first new iron ore mine development in Australia since 1971/72 and is the first major overseas mining investment by the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Channar mine is being constructed in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and will operate for more than 20 years supplying the PRC with 200 M tonne of high grade iron ore. The Project is configured to take advantage of Hamersley's existing production and support facilities. The Joint Venturers will invest A$280 million to achieve an initial production rate of 3 M tonne/yr and an additional A$120 million over the next 8 years to achieve full capacity of 10 M tonne/yr. Financing the Project to meet the requirements of both Hamersley and CMIEC, with the dependance of the Project on Hamersley's infrastructure, and in a depressed iron ore market, required an innovative financial structure to be arranged in a limited period. This paper describes both the financial structure and its implementation, and draws a number of conclusions regarding the financing of resource projects.

Jan 1, 1989

The Ross Goldfield is a unique gold resource. From its discovery in 1865 there was a growing understanding of the geology of the deposit as mining moved from the surface at Jones Flat in the south to underground extraction at Ross Flat further north. Multiple layers of gold-bearing gravels were penetrated in deep shafts and six rich gold-bearing bottoms were worked. The ultimate bottom on the Old Man Group gravel surface has never been reached either at Jones Flat or at Ross Flat. Mining at Ross Flat was ultimately halted by uncontrollable flooding, by escalating costs and by a shortage of labour during the First World War. Mining at Jones Flat recommenced in the late 1980s and attention has once again been drawn to the potential magnitude of the resource at Ross Flat. Research of historic literature shows that there is potential for a bulk gold grade of 400 mg/m3 in a volume of 82 million cubic metres of gravels which lie in a basin between Jones Flat and north Ross.

Jan 1, 1993

The mining industry has recognised for some time the importance of supporting programs which serve to educate the Australian public about the socio-economic benefits of mineral resource development. More recently, industry leaders have realised that the future development of the industry will depend on attracting sufficient young people to commit to a career in the industry. Apart from lending support to the traditional education institutions in Australia, the industry now has the opportunity to participate in the development of education programs in museums. Whilst historic, mining-related theme parks such as Sovereign Hill and Coal Creek in Victoria serve very effectively the objective of relating past mining activities to the socio-economic development of Australia, there still exists the need to provide a facility which, under the same roof, excites interest in geology, mining, mineral processing and the role of minerals and energy in modern society. The redeveloped Geological and Mining Museum (the "Mining Museum"), which is located in The Rocks area of Sydney, meets this objective. With the central themes of formation and transformation this new Museum, which aims to be the best of its type in the world, will use modern museum exhibit techniques and the resources of the Minerals and Energy Information Centre to educate the community including teachers and school children. In the best tradition of museums, outstanding mineral and other collections will complement a comprehensive range of interactive, high technology exhibits which will include a number of exploratory "hands on" facilities. Australian companies are joining with Government to fund this exciting new museum. There is still a need for industry professionals to realise that a modern "mining" museum is no longer just a repository for objects of mining heritage but is also an important centre which serves as an important educational and public relations interface. The Education Section of the new "Mining Museum", which is linked closely with the new Minerals and Energy Information Centre, will be working closely with appropriate mining-related Tertiary institutions to develop specific career programs aimed at secondary students who wish to pursue a career in the mineral resource industries.

Jan 1, 1989

By M Maguire

The purpose of this paper is to provide an illustration of the Resource Management Act processes at their best. Many of you will be aware of the Martha Mine situated in the middle of Waihi Township in Hauraki District. Underground mining ceased on Martha Hill in the 1950s. A new mining licence was issued in the late 1980s and since that date open cast mining has continued at the site. The Hauraki District Council notified its proposed plan in October 1994. Prior to that date numerous discussion papers and draft sections of the plan had been disseminated in the community. Considerable consultation was undertaken with all interest groups. As an indication of the success of that consultation process only 17 references to the Environment Court were lodged following the making of decisions on submissions and further submissions. Those references, which included a number from the Minerals Industry, were all resolved by consent. Out of the reference and consent order process EMMA (Extended Martha Mineral Area) was born.

Jan 1, 1998

Regions with extensive reserves of brown coal but with inadequate deposits of hard coal provide a particularly suitable field for the application of brown coal petrology.In fact, this discipline is indispensable where brown coal is to form the basis for high-quality products of upgrading. Both chemical and physical analyses are required in addition to the techniques employed in coal petrology, but it is the macropetrographic and the microscopic investigations that are of decisive and specific importance.Foremost among the methods of upgrading brown coal is briquetting. From the raw materials aspect the biochemical rank of coal (i.e. the type of deposit) and the coal variety (i.e. the lithotype) exert a marked influence on briquette strength. These are also the significant factors in the suitability of a brown coal for high temperature carbonization; here the demands on coal quality are even more exacting if adequately sintered and therefore high-strength lump chars are to be obtained. The principle applies also to the char from low temperature carbonization. There are close relationships between the tar yield and the remission of the coal.The reflectivity measurement therefore provides a rapid method for evaluating the suitability of a brown coal for low temperature carbonization. Similar correlations have been established between the content of extraction bitumen (raw montan wax) and the remission. Petrological investigations show that the quality of the coal bitumen is a function of the type of deposit and of the lithotype.

Jan 1, 1968

Modelling Channel Scale Flow in Heap Leaching Using Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH)

Sep 13, 2010

This paper aims to collate the metallurgical test work undertaken on the Barrytown mineral sands deposit. It is intended to serve as a summary of mineral dressing work undertaken by all interested parties up to the time of writing. Areas requiring further investigation are: in situ grades and recoveries of accessory minerals,the question of 'rank' of ilmenite within the deposit,flow sheet development for the recovery of gold and monazite, andcost analysis to investigate the relative worth of other minerals; notably rutile. Flow sheet development with respect to the Accessory Minerals cannot be accurately defined until the importance of each mineral in terms of grade, recovery and expected revenue is determined. To date, ilmenite and zircon flows are well documented. Further work is needed to quantify recovery's and flows of the other minerals; notably monazite, gold and rutile.

Jan 1, 1989

By K H. Esbensen, K Engström

The conclusion from the debate over the last decade in the mining sector is that, for grade control, reverse circulation (RC) drill sampling gives more reliable results due to less sampling problems than blasthole samples. However, by conducting the latter with well-controlled procedures there still exist fair possibilities to counteract the major blasthole sampling problems and achieve fit-for-purpose representativeness, especially if based on minimal loss of fines. In the present PhD study, extensive replicate experiments and variographic characterisations are conducted to evaluate the performance of manual blasthole (BH) sampling and sectorial segment sampling. The experiments were performed in Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB)’s Leveäniemi open pit mine in the north of Sweden. The experimental area is an apatite-magnetite iron ore deposit of the Kiruna type, with the demand to exhibit a maximum of local heterogeneity to allow the experiment the largest possible conclusion powers. Gathering and splitting the complete BH drill cutting cones (fines cone, coarse cone) served as an authoritative reference on which to assess the representativity of the two BH sampling methods.Results show that manual BH drill sampling is able to produce samples with an acceptable accuracy and precision if performed properly and with insight. Based on variographic comparison, segment sampling shows similar precision for chemical grades as the manual sampling, while the particle size distributions were more deviating for segment sampling than for manual sampling at the high and low size ranges. Possible reasons for these partly surprising results are discussed.For further investigation of the performance of BH versus RC drill sampling, a second experiment has been planned on a parallel profile. This will result in an unprecedented opportunity for a full variographic comparison between RC and BH sampling, aimed at designing specific, fit-for-purpose sampling procedures as a function of ore quality, cut-off grades and important contaminant levels.CITATION:Engström, K and Esbensen, K H, 2017. Blasthole sampling (replicate and variographic experiments) in LKAB open pit iron ore mines – fit-for-purpose representativity?, Australia, in Proceedings Eighth World Conference on Sampling and Blending , pp 85–96 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2017

By Holly J

The period following World War II has seen many changes in stoping techniques at The Great Boulder Gold Mine. The new methods resulted in improved unit production figures, and have given some relief from the rising worldwide cost spiral in the post war years.Significant production figures are shown graphically in...

Jan 1, 1956

To optimise the haulage of the large tonnages produced from stopes in this high production gold mine, an ore pass and feeder system was introduced. This ore pass was designed and developed in 2006 and the plate feeder installed and commissioned soon after. Cavity Monitoring Surveys (CMS) have been undertaken of the ore pass since it was commissioned. The original thickness that was surveyed of the pillar between the ore pass and decline in 2006 was approximated to be 19 m. Throughout its use large blocks of rock were reporting at the plate feeder. This was the first indication that the ore pass was failing somewhere between the tipping level of the 9410 level and the plate feeder at the 9330. Even so CMS surveys were not taken systematically to firstly identify the area of failure or for monitoring. In August 2008 after implementing management systems, large blocks were still reporting to the plate feeder. The decision was made to empty the pass enough to carry out a CMS survey of the area. Subsequently it was discovered that the area of failure was between the decline and ore pass and that since the first survey the pillar thickness had been reduced to approximately 9.7 m. Further management controls were put in place to slow movement of the material and to limit the use of the 9410 tipping level, but this did not alleviate the rate of failure entirely. The results of an initial inelastic numerical model indicated that most of the pillar was damaged and that failure into the decline likely if no changes were made. The numerical modelling predicted that even if material was no longer passing through the ore pass interaction between the voids was unavoidable and would most likely result in instability. The ore pass and plate feeder are an integral part of the haulage system for the remaining life-of-mnie. Two solutions were sought to firstly reinforce and stabilise the pillar between the ore pass and decline and secondly to rehabilitate the ore pass or find an alternate design that could still utilise the plate feeder. This paper summarises the analysis and resulting rehabilitation that was used to accomplish this.

Nov 25, 2010